The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour is the second concert tour by Lady Gaga to promote The Fame Monster, her sophomore album. The tour was officially announced on October 15, 2009, after her joint concert tour with rapper Kanye West, titled "Fame Kills", was suddenly canceled. Described by Gaga as "the first-ever 'pop electro opera'", The Monster Ball Tour began four days after the release of The Fame Monster. Background Initially, hip-hop artist Kanye West and Lady Gaga had plans to launch a joint tour together. Fame Kills: Starring Lady Gaga and Kanye West was confirmed in September, 2009, as a concert tour that West and Gaga would co-headline. In the aftermath of the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, West made a public statement that he would take a break from the music industry following the media and public reaction to his outburst during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for winning the moonman for "Best Female Video". Nevertheless, the complete schedule for the tour was released, with the tour set to begin on November 10, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly afterwards, the tour was officially canceled without any explanation. Gaga addressed the situation at Billboard's annual Women in Music luncheon where she cited creative differences as the reason for the tour's cancellation. In an interview she stated, "Kanye is going to take a break, but the good news is, I am not." After ensuring the public that she would be embarking on a solo tour in lieu of the defunct tour, Gaga officially announced The Monster Ball Tour on October 15, 2009. The tour had originally been planned to debut in London in early 2010, but was rescheduled, and launched on November 27, 2009, in Montreal, QC. Rapper, Kid Cudi, and singer, Jason Derülo, were confirmed as the supporting act for the tour. While Cudi was confirmed to be supporting Gaga from the beginning of the tour, it was reported that Derülo would join the tour beginning on December 16, 2009. Cudi was kicked off of the tour after the December 14th show due to inappropriate behavior towards a fan. The official poster for the tour features Gaga in her signature Versace 676 sunglasses and what she has dubbed "The Orbit", which she first wore on the October 3, 2009 edition of Saturday Night Live. The contraption was designed by Nasir Mazhar in collaboration with Gaga's own creative production company, Haus of Gaga. Development In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gaga explained that she wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable by her fans. She explained that the tour is a "pop-electro opera" because the theatrics and the story elements interwoven in the tour are played like an opera. According to her the design of the show is innovative and forward in terms of creativeness. Gaga wanted to change the shape of the stage and designed one with Haus of Gaga that is "essentially a frame with forced perspective, and the frame is put inside the stage." Gaga explained, the theme of the show is evolution. According to Gaga, the songs on The Fame Monster represents the personal demons that she had faced. Hence while developing the record Gaga spoke about original sin and demons inside human beings. She said, "So we talked about growth, and that led us into this kind of scientific space, and we started talking about evolution and the evolution of humanity and how we begin as one thing, and we become another." This theme of monsters and evolution is supposed to play a part in the fashion for the tour, which according to Gaga is "another level from where we were with the Fame Ball. ... It's going to be a truly artistic experience that is going to take the form of the greatest post-apocalyptic house party that you've ever been to." Although Gaga stated that she was inspired by the things she and Kanye were doing with the Fame Kills tour, she concluded, "...I made a decision based on integrity not to use any of the things that we had designed together." Later, she agreed that it was "the great lost tour". Revamped Version (2010) Near the end of the U.S. leg of the tour, Lady Gaga said on twitter: "monsterball is amazing,enjoy while u can. im already redesigning it for 2010, the haus tells me there's hospitals who accept people like me" (Dec. 19, 2009) Gaga told MTV News on Saturday, hours before her Monster Ball stop in San Diego. :"The re-vamping of the Monster Ball Tour is just something feel she has to do, especially since the current version of the tour came together at the very last second. "It's kind of funny because, after Kanye and I split up for this tour, I was really unsure if I could get a show together in time for my fans," "But I didn't want to disappoint them and not tour over Christmas, and I had a new record coming out, so... what's exciting about this show is that I was able to put together something that, in truth, I never would have done if I had a longer amount of time." "So, I put together a show that is so perfectly an avant-garde-performance-art-fashion installation, put in a blender and vomited on as a pop show. It's kind of this amazing theme of evolution, but it's in a garage, and me and all my friends are kind of exploring the music." "But it's a very vacuous space. It's a box, it's a runway, and we have to transform that space to feel like eight different acts throughout the entire show. But for the next version of the Monster Ball, which is going to be in February when I begin in the U.K. with my arena tour, I'm throwing out the stage. My team thinks I'm completely psychotic. But I don't fucking care what they think." Gaga wouldn't divulge too many secrets of the new Monster Ball, but she did say that Danish pop act, Alphabeat, will serve as the opening act. And she also hinted that her fans will be in for a very big show, in just about every conceivable way. "Well, just to give you an idea, the stage is about four times the size of the one we're on now and conceptually, it's completely different." "One thing that has been lost over the past 10-15 years, in pop music, is the idea of showbiz. And this is definitely going to bring that back." The new show will be like a broadway production. Gaga says, "I play all of my music but it's a story. And the story is that me and my friends are in NY and we are going to The Monster Ball, but we get lost. Our car breaks down and we are having trouble getting there & I tell everyone, 'When you come to the Monster Ball it will set you free & all of the things that you don't like about yourself won't matter anymore.' And, they start to lose faith in me. So, it's got a kind of Wizard of Oz inspiration behind it. And it's this really amazing sort of glam, drug addict opera." Opening Acts *Semi Precious Weapons (All dates) *Alphabeat (United Kingdom and Ireland) *Kid Cudi (November 27th to December 14th only) *Far East Movement (Asia dates only) *Jason Derülo (December 16th to January 26th only) *Lady Starlight (July 6th to September 19th only) *Scissor Sisters (February 19th to May 6th only) Set List :The show is subject to change, the set list reflects only the last one played. For other variations, see the individual concert page. First Arena Version (North America) #'Jumping Film' (Intro) (contains elements of "Dance in the Dark" and "Finally 2008") #Dance in the Dark #Just Dance #'Puke Film' (Desert) (contains elements of "Tears in the Rain") #LoveGame (contains elements of the 'Chew Fu Guettohouse Fix') #Alejandro #'Raven Film' (Forest) (contains elements of "Girls" and a vocal sample of "Money Honey") #Monster #So Happy I Could Die (except January 21 - 24) #Teeth #Speechless #'Virgin Call Gag' (Only North America dates) #Poker Face (Acoustic)/Make Her Say (Performed with KiD Cudi until Dec. 11, 2009) #Poker Face (New York Ode Version) (Only on the New York dates) #'Tank Girl Film' (Egypt) (contains elements of "Dirty Freak" and a vocal sample of "Beautiful, Dirty,Rich") #Fashion (Nov. 27 - Dec. 11 only) #The Fame (contains elements of "Ghosts N Stuff") #Money Honey #Beautiful, Dirty, Rich (contains elements of "Dirty Freak" - until December 9th) #'Antler Film' (City) (contains elements of "Fancy Footwork" and "Shook One Pt. II") #Boys Boys Boys #Paper Gangsta (except January 21 - 24) #Poker Face (contains elements of the 'Space Cowboy' remix) #'Monster Film' (Manifesto of Little Monsters) #Paparazzi #Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) (Encore) #Bad Romance (Encore) #'Tattoo Film' (Opera - Outro) :*a further breakdown of the setlist may be viewed here. Additional Notes *Gaga wore the gun outfit during the first introduction and ending of "Poker Face". Starting from the Jingle Bell Ball, Gaga changed to the red latex outfit with a different introduction and ending. *During the first shows, Gaga didn't change her outfit during "Monster", she waited until the end of "So Happy I Could Die". Beginning the Nokia Theatre show, she add an outfit during "So Happy I Could Die". *Starting December 21st, "The Fame", "Money Honey", and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich", were played with no pauses in between. *During the last shows, Gaga used fake blood during "Monster", much like during the revamped version of the tour. Second Arena Version (Worldwide) ACT I: City : 1. Intro Film (Introduction) (contains elements of "Dance in the Dark" and "Finally 2008") : 2. Dance In the Dark : 3. Glitter and Grease : 4. Just Dance : 5. Beautiful, Dirty, Rich : 6. Vanity (ending contains distorted elements of "The Fame") (Removed September 16th) : 7. The Fame (contains elements of "Ghosts N Stuff") : 8. Puke Film (Interlude) (contains elements of "Dance in the Dark") ACT II: Subway : 9. LoveGame (contains elements of the 'Chew Fu Guettohouse Fix') :10. Boys Boys Boys :11. Money Honey + Virgin Call Gag (North American Leg Only) :12. Telephone :13. Brown Eyes (Worldwide Except North American Leg) :14. Stand By Me (Only on May 15, May 18, May 28 – June 2 2010) :15. Speechless :16. You and I (North American Leg + Second European Leg) :17. Living on the Radio (Only on August 30 2010) :18. Jump Film/Tornado (Interlude) :19. So Happy I Could Die :20. Antler Film (Interlude) (contains elements of "Fancy Footwork" and "Shook One Pt. II") ACT III: Forest :21. Monster :22. Teeth :23. Alejandro :24. Monster Film (Interlude) :25. Poker Face (contains elements of the 'Space Cowboy' remix) :26. Apocalyptic Film (Interlude) ACT IV: Monster Ball :27. Paparazzi (Battling a Paparazzo) :28. Bad Romance (Encore) :29. Fan Film (Outro) Additional Notes *On the first few dates of the tour, the light used to make a silhouette of Gaga during "Dance in the Dark" was blue, but was then changed to purple. *Until February 22rd, the dress that Gaga wore was a Miuccia Prada 18th century inspired dress. After, it was changed for the Living Dress. *Gaga's outfits during the Japan leg differed from the first European/Australian dates. She continued to use these for her later shows. *From the July 31st show in Phoenix, Arizona, Gaga returned to using her long wigs. *Starting the second half of October, Gaga started wearing a police hat during the piano set. Tour Dates : See concerts in 2009 , 2010, and 2011 with (Monster Ball) before the venue name. Films (Interludes) : See the Interlude & Backdrop for more information about them. Monster Ball Extensions Monster Ball Tour DVD Fans who met Gaga after various shows confirmed that she will be releasing a 3-D movie of the tour. This is one of the reasons behind the 3-D glasses included in the Super Deluxe version of The Fame Monster. On March 4, 2010, GagaDaily announced via Twitter ::“The Monster Ball DVD is going to be released and it will be in 3D!” On March 8, 2010, a rep from Interscope Records released the following statement to MTV News. ::“there are talks about a 3D concert and DVD in the near future.” :: ::On Febuary 14, 2011, while on the Jay Leno Show, GaGa annpunced that there will be an HBO special of the Monster Ball. Tour Book Gaga teamed up with Terry Richardson after the photoshoot for Vogue Magazine. Terry wanted to photograph Gaga during her offstage presence, document what she did when she wasn't performing. Related articles about The Monster Ball Tour *The Monster Ball - Synopsis *The Monster Ball - Fashion *The Monster Ball - Dialogue transcript *The Monster Ball - Credits *The Monster Ball - Interludes *The Monster Ball - Props *The Monster Ball - Backdrops Category:Concert tour